Wednesday, 2 December 2015

The
‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to
their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing
the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.Eight
years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious
police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown
together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning,
fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can
they escape their own past?Time's running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer. But what if he is following you?

ONLINE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM …

My Review

When it comes to my reading
tastes I am a creature of habit, as long as there is either a romance or a
magical element to a story then I am easily pleased. It is not a known thing
for me to stray from the genres that I am comfortable with so when I found out
about a new book set to arrive on the scene from an Author who I already liked,
I was thrilled. Angela Clarke’s debut novel ‘Confessions of a Fashionista’ was
a comical expose on the comical and often ridiculous world of fashion. I read it
and devoured it completely, but then I found out that her new book ‘Follow Me’
was a Crime Thriller I was a little afraid to test the waters. Not in any way
due to the writer, but to the fact that there are certain genres that I am a
bit of a wimp to try. But I was already familiar with the way Angela wrote, and
I had faith in her skills as an author so I started to become quite excited to
give this book a go.

Well, let me tell you I was not disappointed.
I was thoroughly gripped. This is an intense read yet there are some comical
elements from Freddie who is our main heroine in this story. I found the story
to be so cleverly woven together that I found myself constantly guessing and
trying to figure things out before the police did in the book. What was also
unique about the story is that the murderer centres themselves around and
within social media, and in today’s society where such communication is so prevalent,
I found it a wonderful and modern twist on the usual whodunit.

What social media has done s
allow people to have a normally unfiltered view into the lives of others and
with the obsession over reality TV and sudo-celebs, the general populous has
developed a bad case of rubber necking and capturing everything with their hand
held devices. This is wonderfully captured in this book as social media becomes
a main character all of its own and we are given an extreme example of how it
can be used in a horrifically negative way. The #murderer becomes an overnight
celebrity and the followers and tweeters builds up at an alarmingly fast rate.

While this story may be an
extreme case of what can become if social media is wielded as a weapon, we are
given this idea of consequence and how our actions regardless of whether we are
hidden behind a keyboard can have a detrimental effect on the lives of others. This
is an intelligently written piece of fiction that brings in elements of real
life that will make the reader question the moral integrity of every character
in this book. Even our protagonist Freddie.

I must say that I did not guess
who the murderer was, and according to the author not many people have. I also
fell asleep reading this book several times, not because the book is dull, that
couldn’t be farther from the truth. But due to the fact that I was reading in
bed trying to keep going, but my body won out several times with its need for
something as petty as sleep. I mean seriously, has my body not heard of the
phrase ‘less sleeping more reading’?

This is a thoroughly griping
read, and I am grateful for it as it opened my eyes to another genre of book
that I am now more than willing to try. This book is intense, exciting and mind
bogglingly addictive. I am looking forward to the sequel, the way the book
ended will have you thinking exactly the same thing. Because let me tell you
this, things aren’t over when they seem like things are finished.

On a last note, I read a poor
review of this book that complained about ‘foul language’ and an ‘unnecessary
sex scene’ and how the book was at times vulgar. Well I have no idea what kind
of book this ‘reviewer' was expecting but everything in this book is necessary
to the story and its characters. I would recommend that if this review wants to
read a fluffy and magical whodunit that completely avoided the gritty reality
of what we call life, then they should go and read a bloody 'Where’s Wally'
book.

I gave this book a thrilling
10/10

Thanks to Avon UK for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Angela Clarke is an author, columnist and playwright. Her debut crime
novel Follow Me (Avon) is out December 2015. Follow Me is the first in
the Social Media Murders Series. Her memoir
Confessions of a Fashionista (Ebury) is an Amazon Fashion Chart
bestseller. Her debut play The Legacy received rave reviews after it's
first run at The Hope Theatre in June 2015. Angela's journalist
contributions include: The Guardian, The Independent Magazine, The Daily
Mail, and Cosmopolitan. Now magazine described her as a 'glitzy
outsider'. Angela read English and European Literature at Essex
University, and Advances in Scriptwriting at RADA. In 2015 Angela was
awarded the Young Stationers' Prize for achievement and promise in
writing and publishing.